A Study Of Montresor The Narrator In Edgar Allan Poe's Short Story The Cask Of Amontillado

“The Cask of Amontillado” is a quick story written by Edgar Allen Poe, and in contrast to most stories, the narrator could or may not be reliable with the facts that he presents. The story is about the narrator, Montresor, who vengefully deceives his “poor friend” (Poe 109) Fortunato into following him to his personal death. As the narrator, Montresor, recites the story, you can see the swing in his mental state from vengeful to the comprehensive opposite feeling of pity. There are many motives as to why Montresor would be deemed an unreliable narrator, but there are also a few as to why he would be regarded dependable. This paper is going to clarify the causes behind why Montresor could be stated as each, and the reasons behind why Montresor wanted revenge. We will commence by searching at what the critics have to say about the story, and then move onto what I have to say about the story.

As stated prior to, some critics say that Montresor is a reputable narrator in the details he is providing to the reader, while other people say that he is entirely unreliable in the info provided. I personally agree with each sides of the critics. I believe that Montresor could be regarded as each a dependable and an unreliable narrator. By way of out this paper, we are going to appear into the causes why the critics think that Montresor is a trustworthy narrator and why he is regarded an unreliable narrator. We are also going to appear at my personal reasons as to why I feel he is each reputable and unreliable.

To start, we will look at the factors as to why critics believe that he is a trustworthy narrator. One particular critic suggests that everything that Montresor says is “best taken actually, for if they are, other information fall into place” (St. John Stott, Graham). So this critics argument is to just trust Montresor in his descriptions as to what is going on primarily based purely on the truth that it makes the story less complicated to realize if you are not second guessing every little thing that is getting described to you. That is the only details that I could locate on why to trust Montresor as a narrator, but now to talk about why critics and I think about him unreliable.

Now, Montresor is described as an unreliable narrator for a couple of primary reasons. The major one is that Montresor is a murderer, and it’s challenging to trust a person who kills individuals specially when his only explanation to kill Fortunato is that “he ventured upon insult” (Poe 107). Also, when Montresor is telling the story, it is tough to inform whether the events happening are in a chronological timely order with 1 occasion happening correct after the other. For instance, he states that his “poor pal identified it impossible to reply for a lot of minutes” (Poe 109). That fact that he says that he didn’t reply for minutes could have meant that he didn’t reply for an hour for all we know as an audience. Another factor is that Montresor seems to leave out evidence. Even from the quote above there is a lack of evidence as to why he located it impossible to respond. All he says is that he had a cough, but he doesn’t ever clarify where it came from.

This brings us to why Montresor could be deemed a trustworthy narrator. As Fortunato was coughing, Montresor asks if he would like to return to the celebration that they came from multiple times, but Fortunato refuses saying “I will not die of a cough” and Montresor responds saying, “True” (Poe 109). At this time, Montresor is getting reliable and undertaking a tiny foreshadowing since he knows that Fortunato will not die of a cough, alternatively he is going to die of hunger and thirst since Montresor set it up that way. An additional time that Montresor seems reputable is when he is locking Fortunato up. Fortunato cries out to Montresor “for the adore of god, Montresor, have pity on me!” and Montresor, now that his pent-up fury is dissipating, in fact does feel pity” (Delaney 39). The truth that Montresor feels pity tends to make him appear like he really has human feelings once more, and it provides the reader an notion that maybe he is not all that poor.

Now we will move onto what some critics’ opinions are as to why Montresor wanted revenge on Fortunado. One particular critic states that “As Montresor himself remarks, Fortunado is the golden boy, ‘rich, respected, admired, beloved, ….happy….’”(Gruesser). Montresor, regrettably, was not so fortunate. He states that he when was, but “he has lost his status or contentment. To someone who is unfortunate, like Montresor, Fortunato’s happiness is a day-to-day injury” (Gruesser). So due to the fact of that, Montresor feels the require to generate a master plan to bring justice to Fortunato. All critics agree that it was an act of revenge. Personally, I consider that it was absolutely an act of revenge, but without having very good cause. If Montresor does give a real solid cause, Poe hides it quite properly in his writing. I feel that Montresor was just jealous judging by what Gruesser’s opinion was on the predicament. There have to be more of a purpose although.

One particular critic suggests that “He has his reasons for what he does, and these are reasons that we should be in a position to recognize. There lies a deeper horror in the story” (White). This critic suggests that there need to be a very good enough reason for what he did so that he can really feel justified following performing what necessary to be carried out in Montresor’s thoughts. “Montresor is so convinced of his proper in carrying out his program of vengeance that he can speak of the killing of Fortunato as an ‘immolation’ (1257). We want not go so far as to see him assuming the role of a priest performing the ritual killing of a sacrificial victim, as some commentators on the story have accomplished but we must be capable to comprehend that, given his family imperatives, he may properly be capable to see himself as a person carrying out a quasi-sacred duty” (White). I agree that there have to have been some sort of purpose behind why Montresor felt the want to carry out the duty, but I also believe that Montresor could really well have just been crazy.

This brings us to our subsequent subject. Some critics recommend that Montresor was on a “demented or Satanic pursuit of revenge” (White). After going by way of several articles, I have noticed a pattern in a religious aspect to the story saying that Montresor was satanic, but 1 critic stated, “Montresor has unwittingly reenacted the crucifixion” (Gruesser). A huge purpose as to why people have brought religion into the image is because of 1 line in the story, which is when Fortunado cries out to Montresor to stop what he is performing he says “For the love of God Montresor.” “Fortunado’s cry is each a plea for mercy and a warning to Montresor to remember his own finish and consider of the afterlife” (Gruesser). According to Gruesser, when Montresor responded saying “Yes. . . for the adore of God!” He was creating a point to go against god, “damning himself for all time” (Gruesser). Other critics recommend that Montresor was just mentally ill.

This brings us to the next point in the story, which is when Montresor starts to feel pity for the man he is murdering. Montresor offers Fortunado many possibilities to save himself. This tends to make the reader consider that there might be a possibility that Montresor doesn’t necessarily want to entirely go by way of with the murder, but he keeps on generating ironic comments that are foreshadowing for what is going to come about. “Once he has punished Fortunato to his satisfaction, he can now feel sorry for his victim. Fortunado’s plea is only half-stated: the other half is implied. He signifies, in impact, ‘For the enjoy of God Montresor, have pity on me!’ and Montresor, now that his pent up fury is dissipating really does feel pity” (Delaney).

That predicament is fully odd to me since the story is becoming told 50 years down the line. I thought that since Montresor was feeling sorry for Fortunado, he would regret what he had accomplished in that moment, but he shows no remorse in that aspect. I think that Poe is just showing that Montresor has standard human feelings just like everyone else, but he nonetheless doesn’t regret what he has accomplished due to the fact Montresor can’t let Fortunado escape from “the thousands of injuries” he has currently inflicted on him.

The next subject this paper is going to look into is all of the irony and foreshadowing in the story. We will commence by seeking at the tile of “The Cask of Amontillado.” The word “cask” indicates wine barrel, but it is the root for the word casket which signifies a coffin. So you could argue that it is somewhat ironic that the word “cask” in the title was meant to figuratively represent Fortunado’s casket. Anything else that is ironic is Fortunado’s name it self. When you say Fortunado, you can effortlessly see that the word “fortune” is inside of it. This is really ironic because when you believe of fortune, you consider of good luck, but Fortunado has totally anything but great luck. He is being led to his own death and there is nothing at all that he suspects at all.

An additional example of symbolic irony is the way that Fortunado is dressed. He is wearing a jester’s costume. This is incredibly ironic due to the fact he is fooled into becoming following Montresor to his own death. Montresor gives him a lot of opportunities to turn back and foolishly, Fortunado denies each and each and every one particular of his opportunities to escape. It is somewhat comical that he keeps denying the opportunities because as a reader you can see that Montresor is obviously up to anything, but Fortunado is just so blinded to it. One more example of irony is when Fortunado asks Montresor if he is a mason, and Montresor responds saying he is a mason, but Fortunado meant the query asking if he was a element of the Freemasons. When Montresor responded, he did not imply that he was a element of the Freemasons, but instead he meant that he was a craftsman that builds with stone. This is ironic since Montresor will be constructing Fortunado’s tomb made out of stone.

Poe also utilizes a lot of irony inside the dialogue in between Montresor and Fortunado. For example, the very first time Montresor talks to Fortunado he says, “My dear Fortunado, you are fortunately met.” This is ironic since he is not luckily met at all. He is much more like unluckily met. Another instance is when Montresor and Fortunado are in the tunnel going to where Montresor is going to cave him in. Fortunado starts to cough for a reason that is not explained, but Montresor responds to this stating that “We will go back, your overall health is valuable. You are wealthy, respected, admired, beloved You are content, as I once was. You are a man to be missed.” That is certainly a load of crap that he is saying that, but Fortunado responds saying that “The cough is a mere nothing at all it will not kill me. I will not die of a cough.” And to that Montresor responds saying “true,” due to the fact Fortunado is correct. He will not die of a cough, but he will die of some thing significantly worse.

Now it is time to recap. This paper began by speaking about whether Montresor was a reputable narrator or not. In the end, I have to agree with St. John Stott and Graham when they stated the story is “best taken literally, for if they are, other information fall into place” (St. John Stott, Graham). If the story is not told in true time and if you cannot trust the narrator, then the entire story is a bust due to the fact it is impossible to know what is actual accurate and what isn’t. That ruins the whole point of reading a story if you can’t trust something that you are reading, or if you have to over analyze every spec of the story to locate out what is going on. It just requires a lot away from the story, so I believe it is ideal to just trust what the narrator is stating and move on from there. Even even though there are numerous causes why Montresor could be regarded as unreliable, it is far better trust what he is stating as he is stating it since it just makes the reading much less difficult.

Subsequent, this paper began speaking about reasons to why Montresor killed Fortunado. As one particular critic recommended, “He has his causes for what he does, and these are factors that we need to be capable to realize. There lies a deeper horror in the story” (White). I have to agree with this critic simply because nobody does one thing for no purpose. It just depends on what Fortunado did that made him want revenge so bad to make a master strategy to take him out and actually go by way of with it. The only cause Montresor gives you for killing Fortunato is that “he ventured upon insult” (Poe 107). Following researching and finding other critics opinions as to why he did what he did, the only reasonable explanation is jealousy. “As Montresor himself remarks, Fortunado is the golden boy, ‘rich, respected, admired, beloved, ….happy….’”(Gruesser). That is what produced me believe that. Montresor goes onto say that he was not so lucky. This tends to make me think that the principal explanation that Montresor went by way of with it is simply because Fortunado’s happiness was such a bother to him. His jealousy need to have driven him enough to go by way of with killing a man who most likely has in no way truly completed him significantly harm. Also, he very properly could have been in an ill mental state due to the fact anybody in his or her right would not have carried out such a horrid activity.

Soon after reading by way of The Cask of Amontillado, I believed every little thing that the narrator was saying appropriate away, but soon after thinking about it for a while, my thoughts changed. The cause why is due to the fact the narrator seems to be unreliable, at least in most situations. The 1st time reading the story, I believed that all of the events taking place were 1 right after the other with little time in amongst, but following thinking about it, my mind changed. It seems as if there could have been lengthy periods of time amongst the events taking place. For example Montresor says that his “poor friend located it impossible to reply for many minutes” (Poe 109). This could have meant any amount of time, and who knows what the narrator did to him to make him that way. Yet another reason is just based purely on the truth that he is a murderer. It makes it challenging to trust that he is telling the total truth. The last explanation I believe that he is unreliable is since he by no means provides a true explanation for even killing Fortunado. He just says that he has “ventured upon insult” (Poe 107), but that could imply something.

Following researching “The Cask of Amontillado,” I realized that I had missed a lot of essential information within the story. The details changed my opinions drastically on what was going on. Particularly with a explanation as to why Montresor would do some thing so horrid. I truly liked when the one factor that the critic stated which was that “As Montresor himself remarks, Fortunado is the golden boy, ‘rich, respected, admired, beloved, ….happy….’”(Gruesser). This meant that Montresor must have been jealous. When you read you can see the hatred, but it appears to be for no cause. Soon after hearing this concept, and reading through the story once more, it makes a lot more sense. White stated that there need to be a explanation as to why he did it, and the purpose must’ve been relatable to a regular particular person, and that is the most horrid component. I think the explanation why that must be the most horrid portion is since if it is relatable to most everybody, then that indicates we all have the prospective to do such a poor thing more than the feeing of jealousy and anger. So anyone who experiences jealousy and anger can relate to the feeling and the satisfaction of revenge. That is actual kind of a scary thought that Poe may possibly have been attempting to bring out of the reader. Suggesting that anybody can relate to such an act of vengeance, but feel pity at the identical time when you recognize that possibly it wasn’t worth it.

In conclusion, what other people say compared to what I say is fairly closely connected. I’ve come to the conclusion to trust Montresor in what he is saying. Also, I have come to the conclusion that Montresor may have been just a normal guy who was just experiencing extremely powerful jealousy, and this tends to make it scary that anybody can potentially relate. Poe makes use of great irony and foreshadowing, and some comical gestures that make the story extremely intriguing.